New Baby: When you find out your pregnant for the first time ever!

Unless you have been trying to get pregnant for a very long time like me you can’t possibly prepare yourself for the WTF moment when you find out that you are in fact pregnant for the first time ever!

It was a Monday in late July I was working from home, it was late in the afternoon and I was bored. I knew that I was one day late which wasn’t anything to get excited about but given that I was so bored I recalled that I did still have a pregnancy test in the bathroom. It was at this point that I actually rolled my eyes at my own ridiculousness because this was not a new thing to try, no I’d been down this road many depressing times.

‘It’s ironic to think that I spent most of my teens and early twenties trying not to get pregnant having been told that it could happen just like that only to find that when I actually wanted it to happen to me just like that the more appropriate response should have been not even!’

So I decide that I was gullible enough and game enough to waste another $20 on a pregnancy test and went about reading the instructions. Given that I was used to seeing a big fat negative I began to give myself a pep talk to soften what was bound to be an inevitable blow.

After a few minutes I remember looking at the strip and seeing the very clear pink line which I was all too familiar with but then oddly seeing a second line start to form. I waited a bit and sure enough that second line became stronger and clearer until I had two lines staring triumphantly back at me. Naturally I jumped to all sorts of conclusions like maybe this was a reverse test so that actually what I knew to mean positive really meant negative, yes I know, this was my well-trained mind rebelling, finding a reason to not be fooled by this trickery.

I tried a second test just to be sure I hadn’t messed up the first one and got the same result. I read the instructions again and yip two lines meant that this was indeed a positive result but for whatever reason I just couldn’t allow myself to be excited. We’d tried for so long that it just seemed too simple, too normal but at the same time extraordinary.

I called my doctor and made an appointment to see her and I remember vividly her first words to me were ‘Do you know how hard it is to get a false positive?’ followed by ‘Congratulations, you’re pregnant!’ and with that came a mountain of pregnancy paraphernalia and a speel on what to expect when you’re expecting.

You would think that at this point I would be thrilled but I was suspiciously sceptical. Needless to say the next day I would still request a further blood test be carried out and only once that result came back positive did I then start to let the excitement build and I could finally allow myself to think that I would one day soon be someone’s mum.

Q & A

How long had you been trying to conceive?
Nearly two years

Did you seek expert advice to help you conceive?
I had enquired to an acupuncturist and he suggested I monitor my cycle and take my basal temperature for a fortnight before making an appointment, but we just never got around to actually booking in. Joe and I were also both taking minerals but that really was about it. In a way I’m glad we never got around to seeking an expert opinion because it proved that we could conceive naturally.

Do you have any advice or tips for anyone trying?
I personally feel like there were times when I’d become fixated on getting pregnant, reading too much on Google and basically just trying too hard, caring too deeply and allowing myself to want it too badly. I had been on the pill since I was 16 (an extreme solution to treat my troublesome skin) and I truly think that my body needed all of those 2 years to get that out of my system. I would just say to anyone trying, to keep an open mind but don’t overthink it or get caught up in other people’s pregnancy hype because a lot of people I knew we’re getting pregnant around me and sometimes I’d let that negatively impact my self esteem even though I was stoked for them. Just focus on everything else that’s good in your life and know that it will happen.

Was there anything you weren’t prepared for when you were told what to expect?
I thought that once your test was positive that it would be like ‘off you go and enjoy your happy news’ but there are more tests to take, like having blood tests to confirm your HCG levels are increasing at a good rate and then there are scans to have done when you’re further along. Ultimately it’s all to monitor the health of your baby and that’s great but for belated first-timers like me it can be a little nerve wracking.

If you liked this post stay tuned for more pregnancy updates

DISCLAIMER: These are my own personal thoughts and experiences shared with you for your own interest and inspiration. While my posts will transcend everything from style, to pregnancy, to life journeys they are told to you openly in my capacity as a stylist and as a human being. Please note that I am not an expert in every subject nor do I claim to be so anything you choose to act upon as a result of something you may read or see here is your choice and responsibility but I would always suggest you seek further guidance and support where appropriate. Above all just be safe and act sensibly.